How to pick scam emails – Don’t be a hasty clicker!

Put up your hands up everyone that hates spam email out there!

Have a look at this email I received recently and tell me if you don’t start feeling special. Click on the image at right to make it larger for a moment.

Don’t worry none of the links go anywhere, they’re screen shots.

It’s tempting isn’t it? You’re itching to click on those links. Well here’s THE crucial bit of advice in this post.

Let the mouse hover over the link. DO NOT CLICK!

If you allow your pointer to simply hover for a few moments, over any link in an email, it will show you the URL or web address that it points to. If that address says something like – http://youidiot.come-on-you-fool/23/455.67.54/ – there is a pit trap just around the corner for you and your favorite browser. The second you click that link you have put yourself at risk for phishing, and spam and SpyWare and all that exciting stuff.

Here’s what the link in this email showed when my mouse hovered over it baring its teeth :

The Lesson : Sometimes spam screams at you as it arrives, and sometimes it poses as a long lost friend.

Here is another scam email that came in a while ago. It didn’t take me long to discover is true intentions, but I was so impressed at the quality and attention to detail that I kept it to show to you.

And again the hovering mouse told me what this email wanted.

You can go ahead and click on it to make it larger. Don’t be afraid.

Be skeptical especially if the email you are receiving it on is one that you never give out to anyone. Its called unsolicited email.

Heres a very important tip:

Use one email only for friends and family, and another for registering on weblogs, posting to forums and general web surfing. Then at least you only have to be cautious with one email address.

Until we chat again, stay warm and fuzzy inside and remember, out there somewhere is a Hallmark E-Card with your email address on it.

Safe Surfing!

UPDATE: I’ve been getting a lot of these ebay fraud emails and thought I would give you a look at what they look like. Again the same principle applies. Let your mouse hover over the links and if you see a string as shown in the screenshot, with no reference to ebay whatsoever then simply delete it!